'We will deny your Visa, if...': US Embassy's BIG warning against birth tourism
'Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have US citizenship is not permitted. Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent,' the US Mission to Nigeria announced, in a social media post.
Birth tourism in the US refers to the practice where foreign nationals travel to the country to give birth so that their off springs get direct US citizenship, as per the rights granted by the 14th Amendment.
The US Mission to Nigeria's latest post warns people against indulging in the practice.
Donald Trump has previously voiced concerns against the misuse of 14th Amendment rights for birth tourism. During his first term, the POTUS had issued a fact sheet titled 'President Donald J. Trump Is Taking Action to End Birth Tourism, Protect National Security, and Curb the Abuse of Public Resources' which strongly criticised the practice of birth tourism.
'The Administration is taking action to end 'birth tourism' – a practice in which aliens travel to the United States with the purpose of giving birth to gain citizenship for their children. Organizations bring in large numbers of aliens to systematically exploit this loophole and unfairly provide citizenship for their children,' reads the official notice now available on the archives of the official White House website.
The Donald Trump administration is also planning to overhaul the H-1B visa program for skilled foreign workers, aiming to replace it with a more weighted and wage-linked selection process.
The proposed changes aim to give preference to certain applicants based on additional criteria—potentially including wages—thereby benefiting highly-skilled and higher-paid professionals.
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